I'm excited about a lot of things right now!

The next three weeks are crazy. Crazy I tell you! Spring break is over for the kids and there are only a five weeks left before summer, and I'm fairly certain that every minute is going to be a whirlwind...

* Cheverly Community Market kicks off an exciting new season with a potluck this Saturday night. Details here. You'll be hearing a fair amount about the Market from me this year...and I'm glad to be part of it again.

* ChvProm is next Friday! This is one event that makes Cheverly a magical place to live. Our group has big plans this year...big plans. I can say no more.

* Cheverly Day is next Saturday. If you've talked to me in the past month, you know I've been sort of preoccupied with getting the program ready -- it's a big one. I think that the very best thing about this program is that there are so many stories of people who live here, why they came here, why they stay. And a bunch of stories of families who have been part of Cheverly for multiple generations. Can't wait for everyone to see this!

* Cheverly Community Market opens the 2011 season on Saturday, May 21.

The thing I'm most excited about? I'll be in my very first craft fair on Sunday, May 22. Silver Spring's Handmade Mart is a juried fair of super cool vendors, and I'm thrilled to be part of it this year. Please come visit me there!

Cupid at ten.

Do you remember when you just started to discover the opposite sex? Did you get giggly? Kick people? Run from the room screaming? Practice your dance moves? Try out new (lower) voices? In our house, it's all of that. And more. And I assume it's going to get worse -- a lot worse -- before it gets better.

It seems that every boy in Paul's class has discovered girls at the same time. And every girl in Paul's class is completely uninterested. Trust me, I think this is a very good thing. But it is funny to watch the boys trying to play cool and acting so goofy. I was at the school at lunchtime a few weeks ago and asked one of the girls why they sit at a separate table from the boys. The answer: "Well, look at them." And you know what? The girls were totally right. The boys were doing every goofy thing in the 10-year old boy's arsenal of goofy things.

I guess what I'm trying to say is be yourself and enjoy a Happy Valentine's Day with the people who truly love you for being you. And don't hurry to be more mature. Especially you, Paul. Stay a young boy for as long as possible.

(Also, yay for Arcade Fire!)

Warning. This is a kind of dark post.

I'm warning you now. This is not a funny, fun post. I'm having a hard time feeling fun. Or funny.

Okay. You're still reading? These mushrooms represent my family. My tightly knit clump of a family. We've been hiding out in plain view, occupied by school and work and trying to get the wheels moving in one uniform direction. But mostly, we've been bound by illness this fall.

Recently, we've all suffered sinus and ear infections, increased asthma, strep and colds. For over a month, at least one person in this family has been sick at any time. Nothing brings a family together -- for better or worse -- like multiple people staying home sick.

Some of you know that Paul has been suffering from an especially bad bout of debilitating headaches since just before Halloween. He's missed a lot of school this November (thanks, by the way, to his class for making all the great cards -- much appreciated.) The headaches are severe and persistent, even though sometimes he seems to have crazy bursts of energy that leave you wondering what's really going on. I've asked why he can read or watch tv at home, but can't make it through a school day (and yes, I felt terrible for asking), and he explained that he can lay down at home while doing those things, but at school he has to sit up, and the noise and light and all the movement make his head feel like it's exploding. And no child should ever wake up every night of the week yelling because of the pain in his head -- it's terrible to watch as a parent and makes you feel quite powerless. We're trying all sorts of things -- medications, etc. to get Paul up and back to school, but there hasn't been a lot of success so far (zero success. Zero.) We're waiting for an appointment with a pediatric neurologist (earliest availability? End of January. Really.) In the meantime, we've started acupuncture, which seems to make Paul dizzy, in addition to the headaches. I hear that improves. I hope that improves soon. Something has to help, right?

Yesterday, I felt like I hit a wall. Like there's no end in sight and I don't have any plan how to proceed. Like things are falling apart and and I don't understand how or why and I'm powerless to do anything about it. And then I think about those parents who have children with terminal illnesses and I'm filled with jealousy -- they handle this stuff (and far worse) every day. I can just barely handle it for a month. And I feel like I'm failing at this whole parenting thing.

UPDATE: I want to thank everyone for all the kind words -- it means a lot to all of us to know that so many people care. We're trying lots of different options -- the acupuncture works for a bit, until it doesn't; we're trying to get into the pediatric neurologist earlier (they'll call, they say, they'll call); and we're trying different types of pain management. I think the real lesson here is that not everything gets fixed fast.

End of an era

Our family has been part of the Cheverly Weekday Nursery/Mother's Day Out family for the past seven years. Both Paul and Maggie attended nursery school and summer sessions in these programs, which have been running for 30 years (give or take). WDN/MDO is an institution in Cheverly, and we've been very happy to be part of it. Today, we're done.

I remember carrying Maggie through the halls in her carseat as we delivered Paul to preschool. I remember how terribly excited Maggie was to get her chance to stay at school (how could she run off without even kissing me goodbye?!) even as Paul would sob and cling to me when it was time to begin class. I remember the days spent with other parents painting murals in the hallways to enliven otherwise drab areas that the kids & teachers use. We had fun creating the first concert series last year, and our favorite parts of each holiday season have been the Halloween parade and the Christmas pageant. I don't know how many cookies I've baked for WDN/MDO over the past seven years, but I suspect that number is in the thousands.

Today was Maggie's last day at WDN. She's now an official graduate of preschool (with a diploma to prove it), ready for the rigors and challenges of kindergarten. And that ends an era for our family. I'll miss seeing the very capable, creative, compassionate teachers whom I have come to count as friends over the years. I'll miss the murals in the hallways. I'll miss the countless art projects. I know she's ready for new challenges, but it seems like these years have gone by so fast. Too fast, really. We don't have a very young child any longer. We have two elementary school kids. The door to very special time of our lives closed at 12:15pm today. I'm sad. I'm happy. I'm all sorts of things. I guess that, most of all, I'm delighted at the thought of what's next on the horizon.

Here's what I want to say to each of you as we start a new week...

Also, a dear friend is going to have surgery tomorrow morning -- please keep this person in your thoughts. You don't even need to know who it is to send good energy out. That's the wonderful thing about postive thinking -- it flows through all of us.

God. I sound like such a hippie. Right. I'm off to listen to the only band that ever mattered at loud volumes.

My mom makes the best rhubarb cake.

You know what I really miss about living so far away from my parents? My mom's cooking. I grew up in awe of her abilities, and when I finally got my own kitchen I kept her voice in my head when trying new recipes (and ignoring recipes in favor of my own experience and ideas.) So far, it's worked out pretty well!

She makes this delicious rhubarb cake that makes me think about my grandma and grandpa, who lived in Manly, Iowa. My grandpa, a train engineer, used to have a very large garden. Rumor has it that he used to like to garden in his boxer shorts when it got really hot, and that he always waved hello to the ladies. Rumor also has it that my grandma, a pretty stern woman under the best of circumstances, did not appreciate my his naturally friendly nature. He died when I was only five or six, so I really didn't get to know him. I think I would have liked him a lot.

Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea, Series 2

My favorite tea company, Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea, has just released their second series of limited edition teas! This series is a radical departure from their first, and I think that people will love it (as much -- maybe even more -- than the first series)!I drank some of the Jackee Muntz this weekend (the inner inner circle sometimes has its privileges) and it was delicious -- sort of honeyed but brisk at the same time.

Visit their website, read the clever stories, see the freaks, stay for the tea. You'll be glad you did.

This. That. The Other.

We've had two weekends in a row of school extravaganzas...the school year must be (at long last) coming to an end!

First, Cheverly Weekday Nursery's Truck Touch, in which the children touch the trucks and honk the horns and eat the hot dogs and hamburgers and cookies and...and...and... Liz and I whrrled the event, which was pretty cool. You can follow the story here.

This past Saturday, Paul's school hosted its Annual Fun Day, which was -- for many a dad -- more fun than usual, due to the presence of the Redskins cheerleaders (Redskinettes? I dunno.) They were giving mini cheerleading camps, and Maggie was right in the mix. There were a lot of very attentive dads once they figured out what was going on...and some of them didn't even have kids doing the mini camp.

Paul was at both of these events, but he, in what seems to be 2nd grader mode (judging by his friends) was extraordinarily free range, visiting us only for infusions of tickets. He came home with a lot of crap from both events. Have you ever noticed that attending school fairs is much like taking a day trip to NYC? You come with money, but 30 minutes later it's all gone and you have no recollection of where it went. Maybe I need to get to New York more often and school fairs less often...

I think Paul has taken stories of hell to heart during religious studies at school. He really gets the detail. Not sure what this has to do with anything, but there it is.

The best-laid plans have run amok.

Okay, maybe not the best-laid plans, but this week is not turning out quite the way I thought it would. Tonight, Paul is having an MRI -- we're trying to find out why this kid has so many bad, bad headaches. In fact, he's had some level of headache for the past four days. Miserable for everyone. Everyone.

Anyhow, since I'm not sure what the rest of the week holds, I thought I'd post this hint for something fun to do this Saturday now. Mayorga is a cool place and they have really good local coffee. And the band is not too shabby, either.

Also, in case you're curious, I'm posting graphic design/web-related stuff I'm doing on the old pricklygirl site. You can also reminisce about the old days, if you're so-inclined.

Looking for something fun to do this Friday night?

This is going to be lots of fun -- New Deal Cafe is a really great place, full of character and characters. It's family-friendly, and they have delicious Lebanese food, wine & beer. The only downside? It's not in Cheverly. But Greenbelt is only 10 minutes up the pike, and if enough of your friends and neighbors show up, it'll be just like home.

And make sure to visit the home of the hot noodles on the web...you can hear a couple of their songs and check out their full schedule.

Trip down memory lane...

So I was just killing some time online while Paul is trying out his new "homework command center" and decided to put a few things up on the old pricklygirl site. I got to scrolling down through the archives and had a really nice time remembering back a year or two...or four. I'm going to do that more often -- very useful to go back when you're wondering what it is you're actually doing with your life.

Christmas, Alive & Well in Whoville.

It is, I'm pretty sure, the most wonderful time of the year.

My Very Own Personal Fairy Princess

Gratuitous photos of Maggie, because I am soooooo tired.

If you don't already have one of these, you really should get your own personal fairy princess. They're a lot of work and they get awfully messy and can be a little temperamental, but every so often, they rock. Actually, mine usually rocks, but then she spends most of the day not being my friend anymore, with chocolate ice cream coating her front and mud coating her back. Today was one of those days...but she's still my girl.

Sigh. School.

Paul started school on Tuesday... School seems fine, except that I've already learned that Paul is having difficulty focusing in 2nd grade (when asked, he told me that he's having a really hard time not thinking about the pool...I can't blame him.) Also, when checking through his work yesterday, I came across "wiski" (known to grown-ups as "whiskey") as his "w" word. How, you may ask, did I know what he was trying to spell? I asked. He told me it's "something that Daddy likes to drink." He's wrong. Mommy likes to drink whiskey. Daddy likes beer.

But my real problem? Maggie starts preschool in 30 minutes. She's excited but nervous, as evidenced by the increase in crying jags, potty accidents and an unwillingness to eat breakfast. I know she'll have a great time and she's certainly ready for it, but I can't believe she's already this big! This was my 6 lb. baby. Now she's going to school? How in the world did that happen?

There should be some magic wand that will, whenever you want, take you back to when your children were tiny babies and you spent the days (and nights) holding their little sleeping bodies on your chest while listening to them breathe and counting their fingers and toes over and over to make sure everything was there. When your kids are that small, it's impossible to soak up all the details you're going to want to remember when they're going off to nursery school, or second grade, or college.

My Dad, A Senior Working for Other Seniors

My dad is very active in his church community in suburban Denver (Spirit of Christ, Arvada CO). He heads the senior group, Young at Heart, and has innovated all sorts of outreach programs for older people there because he knows that the best way to stay young is to stay engaged. He gets lots of complaints when he starts new programs, say lecture series or computer classes, but the complainers always come around and everyone is happy (and learning something new). I'm so proud of him for forging new paths and for expecting more from his community and himself.

Last week, there was an article about his 400-member group in the Denver Catholic Register. My nephew Sam thinks that his grandpa is famous... Me? I just think he's awesome. In fact, as he gets older I think he becomes even more active, and he continues to challenge himself to do even more for the people around him. There should be more people like him who are active in their communities and show the real spirit of the Catholic faith.